European leasing industry players are expecting business volumes to increase in the second half of 2015, according to a business confidence survey by European leasing trade association Leaseurope and leasing consultancy Invigors EMEA.
Nearly four in five (79%) lessors expected new business volumes to increase, while only 4% anticipated a decline.
The survey, conducted in June 2015, found positive expectations among lessors regarding net profits. 62% of survey respondents forecasted that net profits for their business would increase in the last six months of 2015, while only 17% anticipated a fall.
Expectations about the level of bad debt remained stable and in line with previous surveys, with the majority of participants (79%) forecasting that bad debt would remain unchanged over the coming six months.
Similarly, 51% of respondents expected no change in margins, although 33% predicted that margins would decrease in their organisations, slightly above the percentage recorded in the previous survey.
Over 40% of those surveyed thought that competition from new entrants was more likely in their home market. The percentage of those perceiving new entrants as a competitive threat has increased steadily over the past three surveys.
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By GlobalDataExpectations of merger and acquisition activity changed, with 41% predicting an increase for the rest of the year, a marked rise on the 28% recorded in the previous survey.
Invigors EMEA partner Richard Ryan said: "This latest Business Confidence Survey suggests that 2015 is likely to be another good year for the European leasing industry. Growth is forecast to continue for the remainder of the year, while the balance of opinion on other KPIs is generally favourable. Nearly 60% of respondents in the June survey are more optimistic about the prospects for their business in the second half of this year, while only 6% thought that their business prospects would worsen."